Alternative advertising in prerecorded media

ABSTRACT

Presenting viewers with an alternative brief version of a recorded advertisement when they choose to fast-forward through or skip (or any other trick play event) the recorded advertisement. The alternative advertisement may be displayed instead of or in conjunction with the recorded advertisement (i.e., fast-forwarding advertisement is displayed in one portion of the screen (i.e., background or portion of a split screen) and the alternative brief version is displayed in another portion). The alternative brief version of the advertisement (trick play advertisement) may be a marketing message that is a static screen presenting a logo or a portion of the recorded advertisement, or may be a condensed version of the actual advertisement. The trick play advertisements may be targeted. An alternate or entirely unrelated advertisement can also be displayed as the trick play advertisement.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/612,973, filed Sep. 13, 2012, entitled “Alternative Advertising inPrerecorded Media”, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/006,874 (Now U.S. Pat. No. 8,290,351), filed Nov. 14, 2001,entitled “Alternative Advertising in Prerecorded Media”, which claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/281,037, filed onApr. 3, 2001 entitled Personal Video Recorder (PVR) Market Overview andAdvertising Opportunities and 60/329,992, filed on Oct. 17, 2001entitled Personal Video Recorder (PVR) System Requirements andSpecification. The entire disclosure of each of these priorityapplications is incorporated herein by reference.

This application is related to all of the applications, patents andpublications listed below. Each application listed below is hereinincorporated in its entirety but is not admitted to be prior art:

U.S. application Ser. No. 09/204,888 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,150,030),filed on Dec. 3, 1998 entitled “Subscriber Characterization System”;

PCT Application PCT/US99/28528 (WIPO Publication WO 00/33160A3), filedon Dec. 2, 1999 entitled “Subscriber Characterization and AdvertisementMonitoring System”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/516,983 (now U.S. Pat. No.7,240,355), filed on Mar. 1, 2000 entitled “Subscriber Characterizationwith Filters”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/591,577 (now U.S. Pat. No.7,949,565), filed on Jun. 9, 2000 entitled “Privacy-ProtectedAdvertising System”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/635,252, filed on Aug. 9, 2000entitled “Subscriber Characterization Based on Electronic Program GuideData”;

U.S. application Ser. No. 09/205,653 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,010),filed on Dec. 3, 1998 entitled “Client-Server Based SubscriberCharacterization System”;

U.S. application Ser. No. 09/205,119, filed on Dec. 3, 1998 entitled“Advertisement Monitoring System”;

U.S. application Ser. No. 09/516,314, filed on Mar. 1, 2000 entitled“Advertisement Monitoring and Feedback System”;

U.S. application Ser. No. 09/452,893 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,194),filed on Dec. 2, 1999 entitled “Subscriber Identification System”;

PCT Application PCT/US99/28600 (WIPO Publication WO 00/33233), filed onDec. 2, 1999 entitled “Subscriber Identification System”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/635,253 (now U.S. Pat. No.6,714,917), filed on Aug. 9, 2000 entitled “Subscriber IdentificationBased on Electronic Program Guide Data”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/553,637 (now U.S. Pat. No.6,820,277), filed on Apr. 20, 2000 entitled “Advertising ManagementSystem for Digital Video Streams”;

PCT Application PCT/US00/10633 (WIPO Publication WO 00/64165), filed onApr. 20, 2000 entitled “Advertising Management System for Digital VideoStreams”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/553,099 (now U.S. Pat. No.6,704,930), filed on Apr. 20, 2000 entitled “Advertisement InsertionTechniques for Digital Video Streams”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/568,084, filed on May 10, 2000entitled “Advertisement Subgroups for Digital Video Streams”;

PCT Application PCT/US00/12710 (WIPO Publication WO 00/69163), filed onMay 10, 2000 entitled “Advertisement Subgroups for Digital VideoStreams”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/568,477 (now U.S. Pat. No.6,615,039), filed on May 10, 2000 entitled “Advertisement Subgroups forDigital Video Streams”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/635,539, filed on Aug. 10, 2000entitled “Delivering targeted advertisements in cable-based networks”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/694,848 (now U.S. Pat. No.7,068,724), filed on Oct. 20, 2000 entitled “Method and Apparatus forInserting Digital Media Advertisements into Statistical MultiplexedStreams”;

PCT Application PCT/US00/29034 (WIPO Publication WO 01/30086A), filed onOct. 20, 2000 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Inserting Digital MediaAdvertisements into Statistical Multiplexed Streams”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/796,339, filed on Feb. 28, 2001entitled “Privacy-Protected Targeting System”;

PCT Application PCT/US01/06650 (WIPO Publication WO 01/65453A1), filedon Feb. 28, 2001 entitled “Privacy-Protected Targeting System”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/635,542, filed on Aug. 10, 2000entitled “Grouping Subscribers Based on Demographic Data”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/635,544, filed on Aug. 10, 2000entitled “Transporting Ad Characterization Vectors”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/712,790 (now U.S. Pat. No.8,151,295), filed on Nov. 14, 2000 entitled “Queue Based AdvertisementScheduling and Sales”;

PCT Application PCT/US01/27217, filed on Aug. 31, 2001 entitled“Targeted Advertising at the Set-Top Box”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/731,606, filed on Dec. 7, 2000entitled “System for Providing Targeted Advertisements Using AdvertiserSpecific Target Groups”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/748,949 filed on Dec. 27, 2000entitled “Advertisement Filtering and Storage for Targeted AdvertisementSystems”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/742,527 (now U.S. Pat. No.8,180,675), filed on Dec. 21, 2000 entitled “System and Method forAutomatically Managing Avail Inventory Data and Avail Pricing”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/748,942 (now U.S. Pat. No.7,328,448), filed on Dec. 27, 2000 entitled “Advertisement DistributionSystem for Distributing Targeted Advertisements in Television Systems”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/742,506, filed on Dec. 21, 2000entitled “Internet Based Electronic Program Guide AdvertisementInsertion Method and Apparatus”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/748,943, filed on Dec. 27, 2000entitled “Delivering Targeted Advertisements to the Set-Top Box”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/742,534 (now U.S. Pat. No.7,039,932), filed on Dec. 21, 2000 entitled “Queue Based Head-EndAdvertisement Scheduling Method and Apparatus”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/742,852, filed on Dec. 21, 2000entitled “System for Rescheduling and Inserting Advertisements”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/750,800 (now U.S. Pat. No.7,228,555), filed on Dec. 28, 2000 entitled “System and Method forDelivering Targeted Advertisements Using Multiple Presentation Streams”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/766,004 (now U.S. Pat. No.7,185,353), filed on Jan. 19, 2001 entitled “System and Method forDelivering Statistically Scheduled Advertisements”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/824,434, filed on Apr. 2, 2001entitled “Grouping of Advertisements on an Advertising Channel in aTargeted Advertising System”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/658,204. filed on Sep. 8, 2000entitled “Targeted Advertising Through Electronic Program Guide”;

U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/238,059, filed on Oct. 5, 2000entitled “Platform Independent Addressable Television AdvertisingSystem”;

U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/238,056, filed on Oct. 5, 2000entitled “Method and System for Addressable Advertising in theElectronic Program Guide”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/749,255 (now U.S. Pat. No.7,653,923), filed on Dec. 27, 2000 entitled “Scheduling and Linking IPGAds in Conjunction with Programming Ads in a Television Environment”;

PCT Application PCT/US01/31682, filed on Oct. 5, 2001 entitled“Targeting Ads on IPG's Live Programming and Recorded Programming, andCoordinating the Ads therebetween”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/680,622, filed on Oct. 6, 2000entitled “Method and System for Addressable and Program IndependentAdvertising During Recorded Programs”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/751,349, filed on Dec. 28, 2000entitled “Inserting Local Signals During MPEG Channel Changes”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/998,979 (now U.S. Pat. No.7,260,823), filed on Oct. 31, 2001 entitled “Profiling andIdentification of Television Viewers”;

U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/267,370, filed on Feb. 8, 2001entitled “Presentation Stream Switching Using Channel Maps”;

U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/278,612, filed on Mar. 26, 2001entitled “Formation and Utilization of Cable Microzones”;

U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/281,196, filed on Apr. 3, 2001entitled “Subscriber Selected Advertisement Display and Scheduling”;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/928,024, filed on Aug. 10, 2001entitled “Targeting Ads to Subscribers based on Privacy ProtectedSubscriber Profiles”; and

PCT Application PCT/US01/25261, filed on Aug. 10, 2001 entitled“Targeting Ads to Subscribers based on Privacy Protected SubscriberProfiles”.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) is an integral part of mosthouseholds. According to Statistical Abstracts of the United States, asof 1998 98.3% of US households had at least one television (the averagenumber of television sets per home was 2.4) and 84.6% of TV householdshad at least one VCR. The Personal Video Recorder (PVR) is a term thatis generally used to describe the digital equivalent of the VCR. PVRsare also known as Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) and when locatedoutside of the residence can also be referred to as Personal VideoChannels (PVCs).

Because VCRs are so universally accepted, it is clear that a digitalsuccessor technology will eventually take hold. That digital successortechnology will provide the functionality of the VCR but with the addedflexibility of a digital platform. The advent of the Internet will alsohave a significant impact on the successor technology to the VCR becauseInternet based delivery, storage and in-home distribution of multimediacontent will allow for new PVR functionality and architectures.

VCRs have a fast-forward capability that allows the user to fast-forwardthrough programming. One of the primary uses of the fast-forward buttonis to skip commercials in pre-recorded material. That is, users who havegone through the trouble to pre-record a program typically have nointerest in viewing the advertisements. Because the use of VCRs torecord programming for home use is considered “fair use” in terms ofcopyright, programmers and advertisers cannot prevent manufacturers fromsupplying VCRs or putting fast-forward functionality on VCRs, nor canthey prevent consumers from using the fast-forward button to skipcommercials.

PVRs, like the predecessor VCR, will have a fast-forward capability.Some manufacturers have even gone so far as to put a “commercial skip”button on the PVR that allows the user to completely skips over theadvertisement with the touch of a button. Although there are copyrightissues that may ultimately prevent the PVR manufacturer from includingan explicit “commercial skip” button, PVR users will likely insist onthe ability to fast-forward through commercials.

In a traditional VCR/PVR, the video is meaningless when the userfast-forwards or rewinds, and the audio is suppressed. The viewer cannottypically recognize the advertisement of the manufacturer, and there istherefore little chance to make an impression on the viewer. For theforegoing reasons, there is a need for a method and system forpresenting a brief marketing message when a user fast-forwards throughor rewinds through an advertisement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and system for presentingviewers with an alternative brief version of an advertisement when theychoose to fast-forward though a commercial. In a preferred embodiment,the viewer sees the fast-forwarded commercial in one portion of thescreen (either background or portion of a split screen) while thealternative brief version is displayed. The alternative brief version ofthe advertisement is known as a trick play advertisement, and is amarketing message which may be a static screen presenting a logo orportion of the commercial, or may be a condensed version of the actualadvertisement. An alternate or entirely unrelated advertisement can alsobe displayed as the trick play advertisement.

The present invention supports a wide range of formats for thepresentation of the alternative advertisement including full screenalternate advertisements, opaque and transparent overlays, and splitscreens. A wide range of brief marketing messages can be used includingbrief segments of video in sequence, brief segments of video insequences different than the original advertisement, mixed sequences ofvideo and still images and single still images or sequences of stillimages.

One advantage of the present invention is that audio may accompany thealternative advertisement. The accompanying audio can be a sequence ofmusical notes or any other appropriate audio message such as the name ofthe manufacturer or a sound associated with the manufacturer or product.

Another advantage of the present invention is that if the PVRmanufacturer has included a “commercial skip” feature the alternativeadvertisement will be presented even though the viewer has chosen toskip the commercial. The alternative advertisement can be displayed whenthe user rewinds through the advertisement. A number of events such asfast-forward, commercial skip, and rewind can be used to trigger thealternative advertisement and are known in general as trick-play events.

In the present invention the trick play advertisement can be formed byusing segments of the full-length advertisement. In a preferredembodiment, the I-frames of the digital video sequence, which form theoriginal advertisement, are used as the basis for still images or asbeginning points for sequences of video in the trick play advertisement.In one embodiment, the trick play advertisement is formed dynamically byretrieving sections of the original advertisements. In anotherembodiment, a separate file is created which contains the trick playadvertisement. In another embodiment the trick play advertisement isdownloaded and stored separately from the original advertisement.

The present invention also supports the use of non-traditional videosuch as flash animation or other Internet based graphics or video. Inone embodiment the trick play advertisement is comprised of stored files(local or external) that are displayed upon initiation of a trick playevent.

One of the advantages of the present invention is that the trick playadvertisement can be targeted such that different trick playadvertisements are displayed to different market segments. These marketsegments may be defined by age, income, ethnicity, or otherpsychodemographic or socio-economic factors.

These and other features and objects of the invention will be more fullyunderstood from the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments that should be read in light of the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthe specification, illustrate the embodiments of the present inventionand, together with the description serve to explain the principles ofthe invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary program stream having advertisementsinserted within programming;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the advertisements of FIG.1 being fast-forwarded and alternative advertisements being available inplace of or in conjunction with the fast-forwarding advertisements;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary system diagram of a Personal VideoRecorder (PVR);

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary system diagram of a Video-on-Demand(VoD) network;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary system diagram of a Personal VideoChannel (PVC) head-end based PVR network;

FIG. 6A illustrates an exemplary context diagram of a client sideset-top box (STB) ad targeting system;

FIG. 6B illustrates a single ad queue structure for multiple marketsegments/subscribers;

FIG. 6C illustrates the use of multiple ad queues for multiple marketsegments/subscribers;

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary context diagram of a server side admanagement system;

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary block diagram for a client side STB adtargeting system;

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a server side admanagement system;

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary data flow in a PVR-enabled set-top boxfor delivering targeted advertising;

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary data flow in an ad management systemdesigned to deliver targeted advertisements to a PVR-enabled set-topbox;

FIGS. 12A-B illustrate exemplary systems in which the alternativeadvertisements are received as separate files;

FIGS. 13A-C illustrate exemplary systems in which processing rules arereceived in order to generate alternative advertisements by applying theprocessing rules to advertisements;

FIGS. 14A-B illustrate exemplary systems in which advertisements and anad queue are utilized along with alternative advertisements and/orprocessing rules;

FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary one-second MPEG data stream;

FIGS. 16A-C illustrate exemplary alternative advertisements beingproduced from an original advertisement; and

FIG. 17 illustrates exemplary embodiments for placement of thealternative advertisement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In describing a preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in thedrawings, specific terminology will be used for the sake of clarity.However, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specificterms so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific termincludes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner toaccomplish a similar purpose. In particular, when used herein the termalternative advertisement refers to a trick play advertisement which isthe advertisement presented when a trick play event is detected. A trickplay event can be defined as any event which presents an opportunity fora trick play advertisement including but not limited to initiation offast-forward at a commercial break, a commercial skip event, or rewind.

With reference to the drawings, in general, and FIGS. 1 through 17 inparticular, the apparatus of the present invention is disclosed.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary illustration of programming 100 havingadvertisements 110, 120 inserted in advertisement opportunities (avails)within the programming 100. The programming may be video, audio,streaming media or other programming that would be obvious to one ofordinary skill in the art. For ease, throughout the application we willfocus of the video programming and in particular digital video. However,the invention is in no way intended to be limited thereby.

As illustrated, two 30-second advertisements 110, 120 are inserted inthe middle of the programming 100. However, the invention is in no wayintended to be limited to this exemplary embodiment. As one skilled inthe art would recognize the advertisements may be any length (i.e., 15,30, 45, 60 seconds), there may be any number of advertisements (i.e., 3,4, 5 advertisements during a commercial break), the advertisements maybe inserted at any point in the programming (i.e., pre-pended orpost-pended), and may be inserted between different programs. When onenormally talks about advertisements in programming they are referring tobroadcast or network programming, such as ABC, NBC, ESPN. However,advertisements may also be associated with Video on Demand (VoD)programming, Pay Per View (PPV) programming, pre-recorded programmingthat may be stored on cassettes, CDs, DVDs or other media, streamingmedia programming and other programming that is either now known orlater discovered. For ease, throughout the application we will focus onthe programming delivered to a subscriber (i.e., broadcast, network,VoD, PPV). However, the invention is in no way intended to be limitedthereby.

The broadcast, network, VoD and PPV programming may be transmitted to asubscriber via a programming delivery network. The video deliverynetwork may be a digital broadcast satellite (DBS) system, a cabletelevision (CATV) system, a Switched Digital Video System (SDV),Internet, or other systems now known or later discovered. The systemarchitectures can include Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC), Fiber to the Curb(FTTC), Fiber to the Home (FTTH), any iteration of Digital SubscriberLoop (xDSL) including very high speed DSL (VDSL), terrestrial wirelessnetworks such as multichannel multipoint distribution systems (MMDS) orlocal MDS (LMDS), or other architectures now know or later discoveredsystem.

As one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize, if the programmingis recorded for future playback, there is the potential that subscribersmay fast forward through, or skip advertisements. With the advent of thepersonal video recorder (PVR) in any of its various forms that will bediscussed in detail below, it is possible for the subscriber to recordthe programming and play it back in the future (potentially just a fewminutes later) and fast forward through, or skip the advertisements.FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary fast forward event taking place duringthe viewing of the advertisements. As illustrated, each of the 30 secondadvertisements 110, 120 illustrated in FIG. 1 have been reduced to twosecond fast forwarded advertisements 210, 220. As one of ordinary skillin the art would recognize, a two second fast forwarded advertisement210, 220 will not convey the advertiser's message to the subscriber. Inthis exemplary illustration the two second fast forwarding recordedadvertisements 210, 220 are based on the subscriber fast forwarding theadvertisement at 15 times the normal speed (i.e., 15×). It should beobvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, there are numerous otherfast forward speeds that would be well within the scope of the inventionand that the invention is in no way intended to be limited by the 15×example.

Advertisers pay very significant sums of money for advertisements placedin broadcast and network programming and in fact, advertising subsidizesfree broadcast and network programming. Advertisers therefore wantassurances that their advertisements are actually displayed tosubscribers and are not simply skipped over. It is unlikely thatsubscribers can be prevented from fast forwarding over theadvertisements, thus there is a need for ensuring that the advertisersget some value for their advertisements, even if the subscriber fastforwards through the advertisements. The current invention replaces orsupplements the fast forwarding advertisements 210, 220 with alternativeadvertisements (also called trick-play advertisements) 230, 240. Thealternative advertisements 230, 240 are designed to get the advertiser'smessage across in the same amount of time it takes the subscriber tofast forward through the recorded advertisement (i.e., 2 seconds in theexemplary embodiment of FIG. 2). In alternative embodiments thistechnology is also applied to skipping, rewinding, pausing and any otherfunction that effects the presentation of the advertisement (oftenreferred to in the industry as “trick-play”). In another alternativeembodiment, the alternative advertisement is not related to theadvertisement being fast forwarded (or rewinded or paused). In thisembodiment, the alternative ads could be purchased separately and haveno connections to the ad (i.e., next in queue) or could be tied to thead in some fashion (i.e., Coke displaying an alternative ad during afast forwarding Pepsi advertisement).

For ease of understanding the current invention will be described inrelation to the recording and playback of advertisements utilizing aPVR. However, the invention is no way intended to be limited solely toPVRs. Before describing the generation or contents of the alternativeadvertisement in detail, a detailed description of multiple variationsof a PVR will first be described.

PVR Introduction

The PVR is a device that enables a television or other interactive mediaviewer the ability to digitally store programming for subsequentviewing. PVRs may also be referred to as Digital Video Recorders (DVRs)and in some instances (in particular head-end based PVRs) are referredto as Personal Video Channels (PVCs). When used herein the term PVRrefers to any type of device which digitally stores and plays backprogramming, and can include devices located in the residence, thehead-end or central office, in the distribution network, as part of theInternet, or distributed over any or all of these locations.

Streaming media may begin to change the way video is viewed in the homeand new Internet based interfaces for television viewing may appear.These advances will facilitate PVRs and may result in new types of PVRbased systems which are essentially Internet based networks in whichinformation is stored and managed in a distributed manner between thecontent provider, service provider, and viewer.

PVR Functionality

The PVR provides the basic functions of a VCR including record, play,rewind and fast forward. The PVR also includes functions that give aviewer the ability to manipulate live television programs by recordingthem simultaneously as they are being watched. This allows the viewerthe ability to “pause” and have the program be recorded automatically(without hitting a Record button) and then resume watching the programby hitting Play. PVRs used to watch live programming allow the viewer tofast forward up to the current time, such that if pause was hit theviewer can return to the programming and advance through what was storedduring the pause. Fast forward speeds typically include 5×, 20×, and60×, but are clearly not limited thereto. PVRs can also offer theability to convert live program to a recording (“Convert to Recording”feature) the ability to return to live viewing (“Resume Live TV”feature) and the ability to clear the recording buffer upon a channelchange.

Regardless of how a program was recorded on the PVR, during playback thePVR offers the viewer the ability to play, stop, pause, rewind, and fastforward through the recorded program. In addition, the digital PVR cansupport frame forward and frame backward features as well as digitalslow motion, bookmark, and “go to time” features. An additional, andcontroversial, feature is the “Skip Forward” or “Commercial Skip”function, which some commercially available devices offer. Thesesfunctions allow a user to skip forward exactly 30 seconds, effectivelyallowing the viewer to skip through commercials without seeing anyportion of the advertisement or having to search for the return toprogramming. Clearly this feature will greatly reduce the effectivenessof television advertising, and could potentially eliminate traditionaladvertising entirely. Nevertheless, television advertising is currentlya $53B market in the US today and will not be eliminated overnight. Avariety of advertising techniques are likely to be used based both ontraditional 30-second spots as well as on novel advertisingmethodologies that will deliver the message to the viewer even thoughthey have the ability to quickly skip through advertisements.

The manual recording features on a PVR are similar to those on a VCR,but PVRs also include advanced features such as the ability to check forschedule conflict and to set recording quality, priority, and expiration(the point in time at which the program is deleted from storage).Program guides, often referred to as Electronic or Interactive ProgramGuides (EPGs/IPGs), will generally be available on PVRs and are a keyfeature in that they allow the user to find programs that they wish towatch or record, as well as providing ancillary information about theprograms. The program guide information can also include metadata aboutthe programs that enables the autonomous recording of programs based ona user profile.

Automatic program guide based recording can be used to record orrepeatedly record a program. Some PVRs provide for intelligent recordingin that they will automatically record programs based on a user havingrecorded or watched that program previously. Some systems also attemptto “learn” what the user likes to watch and will record those programsas well as similar programming. An example of a system which learns userpreferences for future recording is described in World IntellectualProperty Organization (WIPO) publication WO 99/65237 entitled“Television programming recording with user preference determination,”published on Dec. 16, 1999.

The PVR may be a standalone unit or may be integrated into a cable orsatellite set-top box (STB). A variety of output formats can besupported including analog S-video and composite video formats. Digitaloutputs may be supported (e.g. IEEE 1394 which is herein incorporated byreference) and the PVR may form part of an in-home network ordistributed media storage and playback network. Applicants' provisionalapplication Nos. 60/281,037 and 60/329,992 provide additionaldescriptions of PVR functionality

Residential PVR

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary system overview of a PVR-enabled set-topbox (STB PVR) or residential gateway (RG) that contains the basicfunctionality necessary to support upstream and downstream datatransmission, digital television reception and presentation, and storageof digital video programming. The system contains a tuner/demod 304 thatprovides for the reception of programming and data. In some systems(such as cable systems) multiple demodulators may be used to providesimultaneous delivery of digital video/audio (MPEG) and InternetProtocol (IP) data. An MPEG demultiplexer 306 selects (filters) a singleprogram from a multiple program stream. The MPEG demultiplexer 306 maycontain a transport stream demultiplexer, Program Identifier (PID)filters, and a conditional access system. A data tagging unit 308 addsmetadata descriptors to video to be recorded. The metadata is used bythe PVR to identify and characterize programs. A write buffer 310buffers video to accommodate disk access.

An upstream transporter 302 prepares data including the steps ofpacketizing, error protection, and other transport related functions. Anupstream modulator 300 performs modulation and serves as the accessprotocol manager. As with most set-tops or televisions, a remote control311 works in conjunction with a remote control demodulator 312 to allowremote control and programming of the PVR unit. A processor 320 runsmiddleware, PVR control software, and targeted advertising software. Anactual implementation may use more than a single processor. As anexample, one processor may be used to manage the core hardwareresources, while a second processor may be used to handle middleware andPVR operations.

Random Access Memory (RAM) 314 and flash memory 316 are connected toprocessor 320 via a processor bus 318. Storage of programming isprovided using a disk drive 336 although other types of high-capacitynon-volatile memories may be used including memory sticks, write-readoptical memories, or other magnetic, electronic, optical,magneto-optical, electro-optical or acousto-optical storage systems. Thedisk drive 336 is connected to the write buffer 310, processor 320, anda read buffer 332 through a system bus 334. The read buffer 332 buffersvideo to accommodate disk access. A tag extraction system 330 extractsmetadata descriptors from recorded video. An audio/video decoder 328decodes digital video and audio, examples of which are MPEG video andMPEG/AC-3 audio. The video D/A 324 and audio D/A 326 convert video andaudio signals respectively to analog signals that can be sent directlyto S-video or RGB inputs on a television or to an RF modulator 322 whichcan modulate the signals onto an appropriate TV channel.

As previously discussed, the PVR may be connected to a variety ofnetworks including a cable network which supports one or more digitalvideo and/or data protocols including any of the Motion Picture ExpertGroup (MPEG) video standards and the Data Over Cable InterfaceSpecification (DOCSIS) protocol. The PVR may alternatively receivesignals from a satellite and can potentially be connected to theInternet (for return signals) via a telephone line or other networkconnection. In the satellite embodiment, the PVR can receiveadvertisements from the satellite network or potentially over thetelephone line or other network connection. The telephone line or othernetwork connection can be utilized to report back viewing statistics andad viewing information. In another embodiment, signals are sent backthrough the satellite or via a land based wireless connection.

In a DSL embodiment, the PVR is connected to a telephone line whichsupplies video signals and which can simultaneously serve as a datanetwork for two-way communication with the PVR. For Internet basedvideo, the PVR can be connected over a variety of network types and canreceive streaming media broadcasts. The signals may be unicast ormulticast and can be delivered from a centralized server, a distributedserver system, or via an edge network. PVRs can also be used withbroadcast (over-the-air) networks and microwave “wireless cable”systems. When used in conjunction with these delivery systems, anappropriate return path (either telephone, cable or other networkconnection) can be used to provide two-way capability to the PVR.

Video on Demand (VoD)

The ability to provide video programming to the consumer at the exacttime that they desire that programming is known as Video on Demand(VoD). A VoD system allows a subscriber to retrieve a movie at any time.A true VoD system also includes the ability to pause the movie, fastforward through the movie, rewind, or stop at any point in theprogramming. FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary VoD system that includesremote video servers 400 that store video; an archive 402 that storesitems such as infrequently viewed movies; a backbone network 410 that isused for the distribution of digital video from the remote video servers400 to a switching office 420; a subscriber network 430 which connectsthe switching office 420 (more precisely head-end 428 within theswitching office 420) to set-tops 440.

Within the switching office 420 various components are used to providethe VoD service including video servers 422, a switch 424, a video dialtone gateway 426 and the head-end system 428. The video servers 422provide “local” or “edge” storage capability that allows video that isaccessed more frequently to be stored closer to the subscriber thanacross the network on the remote video server 400 or archive 402. Theswitch 424 is used to direct traffic to the video dial tone gateway 426that provides a subscriber interface as well as providing OperationalSupport Systems (OSS) and Traffic & Billing (T&B) functions. Inoperation, the video dial tone gateway 426 can present the subscriberwith a menu for services which can guide the subscriber through thesources for video (content providers) and present the pricinginformation if the video is being sold on a per-unit basis (as opposedto a subscription service). The video dial tone gateway 426 thus insuresthat the subscriber can select the appropriate video content, that thecontent is accessed from the correct video server 400, 422 or thearchive 402, that the head-end 428 and the set-top 440 are appropriatelyconfigured to transmit and receive the content respectively, and thatbilling records are created. Although the OSS and T&B systems are notillustrated in FIG. 4, they can be incorporated into the video dial tonegateway 426 or may be a separate systems located in the switching office420 or elsewhere in the network.

The head-end system 428 represents the set of equipment that is neededto deliver the advertisement over the specific delivery platform in thesubscriber network 430. The subscriber network 430 may be a cable systembased on Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) technology, a DSL network, or a landor satellite based wireless network. In the case of an HFC network, thehead-end system 428 will typically multiplex a number of VoD streamstogether and modulate the multiplexed stream onto one or more QuadratureAmplitude Modulated (QAM) channels. For a HFC network, there willtypically also be a return channel that may consist of a DOCSIS basedmodem in the set-top and corresponding Cable Modem Termination System(CMTS) in the head-end 428. The return channel transports requests andcommands from the set-tops 440 to the head-end system 428. Alternativedownstream modulation formats and return paths can be utilized.

In the case of a telephone type network based on DSL technology, thehead-end system 428 can consist of a terminal such as a BroadbandDigital Terminal (BDT) or Host Digital Terminal (HDT) which receivesvideo signals and prepares them for transmission to field locateddistribution equipment in the subscriber network 430. The transmissionis typically via a fiber optic connection and is done in stages in whichthe fiber carries a signal from the switching office 420 to a terminallocated in the field such as a Universal Access Multiplexer (USAM) orDigital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM). From this point inthe network the signals can be transported to the set-top 440 overtwisted wire pairs using one of the DSL transmission technologies.Alternatively, the equipment in the network may be fiber optic basedsuch that the transport to the home is entirely over a fiber opticconnection, thus forming a Passive Optical Network (PON) or all opticalFiber to the Home (FTTH) network.

A distinction between the HFC network and the networks used by telephoneservice providers is that in the HFC network the bandwidth is typicallyshared between all of the subscribers on a cable node, whereas in a DSLnetwork each subscriber has an individual connection with apre-determined amount of bandwidth. This has an impact on the design andimplementation of the head-end system 428, but should not affect the VoDfunctionality presented to the subscriber.

Satellite and land based wireless VoD systems will have head-end systems428 which are yet distinct from cable and telephone network head-ends.Satellite systems can utilize a variety of return paths includingsatellite uplink, telephone line, Internet, or cable based. Both usesharing of the bandwidth on the downstream, with the satellite systemextensively sharing bandwidth across the footprint of the satellitesystem. The VoD system can also be based on Internet Protocol (IP) andcan use streaming media techniques, including unicast and multicast, todeliver the video across the backbone and subscriber networks (410 and430 respectively) and to the set-top 440. Using the IP protocol allowsfor flexible delivery of the video, independent of the transmissiontechnology in the subscriber network 430. The IP protocol will alsoprovide for the ability to easily transport and store video within thehome, thus supporting in-home networking and incorporation of thesubscriber set-top 440 or personal computer into the VoD network.

The VoD system illustrated in FIG. 4 can be used to deliver video invarious types of “on demand” formats including Quasi Video-on-Demand(QVoD) in which users are grouped based on a threshold of interest, andin which users can perform basic temporal control by switching to adifferent group. The system can also support Near Video-on-Demand (NVoD)in which functions like forward and reverse are simulated by transitionsin discrete time intervals (e.g. 5 minutes). One mechanism for achievingthis is to provide multiple versions of programming with small timeskews between the versions. In true VoD services, the user has completecontrol over the session presentation including full-function digitalVCR capabilities: play (forward and reverse), pause, fast-forward,rewind, and random position.

Head-End Based PVR or Personal Video Channel

A head-end based PVR, also known as the Personal Video Channel (PVC), isan implementation of the PVR in which the storage function is performedoutside of the subscriber residence. The PVC implementation makes use ofthe storage inherent to the VoD system to form and manage the PVR. Oneadvantage of the PVC implementation is that the STB needs lessfunctionality (i.e., no storage) and thus has a lower cost. One of thedrawbacks of the PVC is that when the penetration of the PVC servicereaches a certain point the cost of bandwidth to deliver the storedprogramming exceeds the cost to have individualized (residential) PVRs.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary implementation of a HE PVR. In thisembodiment, the video dial tone gateway 426 of FIG. 4 is replaced by apersonal video channel manager 500. The personal video channel manager500 provides the PVR functionality to subscribers by managing theirstored programs and accessing the stored programming on command, just asin a VoD system. The principal distinction between the VoD system andthe PVC is that in the PVC recording is enabled so that users canrequest that a particular program be stored. In the event that theprogramming is a live event and therefore not presently stored, thepersonal video channel manager 500 insures that the programming isrecorded on video server 422 or on another storage unit. If more thanone user requests that a program be recorded, personal video channelmanager 500 notes that the program has already been recorded and canprevent additional copies from being made.

Advertising Opportunities on PVRs

From an advertiser's perspective, the PVR offers a tremendous range ofpossibilities for directing advertisements, both of the traditional 30second type as well as various types of virtual advertisements andoverlays, as will be described herein. The digital storage medium canstore a large number of advertisements in addition to the recordedprogramming. The basic functionality of the PVR will allow for theinsertion and splicing of these ads into playback material. The adsstored in the PVR will be ads determined to be relevant to the household(and individuals within the household). The ads may be filtered prior tobeing received by the PVR or the PVR may itself act as the filteringmechanism.

The PVR may have the ability to profile viewers and identify whichviewer (or group of viewers) is interacting with the TV. Based on theviewer profiles and/or viewer identification, the PVR can deliverspecific (targeted) advertisements. The ability to profile viewers andto identify viewers in a household based on their viewingcharacteristics is described in Applicants' co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/204,888 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,150,030);WO/99/33160; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/516,983 (now U.S. Pat.No. 7,240,355); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/871,526; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/591,577 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,949,565); U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/635,252; U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/205,653 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,010); U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/452,893 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,194; WO 00/33233; and U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/635,253 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,917).The targeted ads may either be spliced into a live or prerecordedprogram, overlaid on a program, inserted into programming, or throughother means that would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.

The PVR can also report back viewing statistics and provide theadvertiser information with respect to the effectiveness of theadvertising (i.e., how many viewers are watching the ads and to whatdegree of completion). The advertiser can use the PVR to achieveone-to-one marketing capability by insuring that the right ads aredelivered to and ultimately displayed to the right viewers. Although itis technically possible to learn about each viewer individually, privacyconcerns and the well-established mass advertising techniques used bymajor advertisers are likely to result in a migration to one-to-oneadvertising on PVRs through the formation of market segments. In formingmarket segments advertisers specify characteristics of the viewers theywant to reach. Although some of these characteristics may be related toviewing habits, it will ultimately be possible to generate a list ofviewers (e.g. viewers coming off lease of a certain type or brand ofvehicle in the next 6 months), have those viewers placed in a specificmarket segment, and deliver the ad to those viewers for subsequentdisplay. To protect privacy the advertiser may not be provided with anyuser identifiable information, and in some cases will only know thenumber of individuals or households in the designated market segment. Itis therefore possible to create very specific market segments withoutrevealing personal information.

As previously mentioned, one potentially powerful way to advertise anddirect advertisements on PVRs is through the substitution of (ormanipulation of) traditional video advertisements (i.e., 30 second adthat appears in broadcast programming, ads that are pre-pended orpost-pended in VoD programming). The PVR can substitute ads during liveprogramming (play or recording of) or when pre-recorded programming isbeing played back. Another opportunity for advertising on PVRs isthrough the program guides. The program guides provide graphicalinformation regarding current and upcoming programming. Modern programguides (typically referred to as Interactive Program Guides or IPGs)have incorporated graphical advertising as part of the program guide.The ads that can be placed in the advertising portion of the IPG includestatic advertisements inserted in the IPG, video clips and streamingmedia played through the IPG, and combinations of static ads and videoclips displayed in the IPG. Another advertising opportunity on the PVRis the display of ads when channel changes (can be considered a trickplay event) are made or while information is being retrieved from thelocal hard drive or other server. In this embodiment the channel changeor pause can be considered to be trick play events. Applicants' patentapplications U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/658,204; U.S.Provisional Patent Application 60/238,056; U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/643,599 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,042,131); U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/680,622; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/751,349describe targeting advertisements in IPGs, recorded programming andduring channel changes.

PVRs may also utilize virtual ads (a variety of ways to advertiseproducts within the programming itself) as an additional advertisingopportunity. Virtual ads include the superpositioning of anadvertisement on a billboard, or substitution of one product label foranother in the programming (also referred to as product placement). Forexample, an actor or actress may be holding a soda (e.g. Pepsi) in ascene of a show and the original Pepsi label can be replaced with aCoca-Cola label. Techniques for performing virtual ad insertionincluding background overlays and product placement are well known tothose skilled in the art and are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,543,856;5,627,915; 5,808,695; 5,892,554; 5,593,076; 6,100,925; and 6,184,937 allof which are herein incorporated by reference. Other types of virtualads include graphical overlays and “bugs” similar to the network promographics which are superimposed on programming today. Applicants'provisional applications 60/281,037 and 60/329,992 describe the use orvirtual ads in more detail.

Stored ads offer the possibility of presenting ads to subscribers “ondemand” such that the subscriber is presented with the option to viewone or more ads and chooses to do so. These ads are stored on therecording medium and retrieved when the user requests the ad, eitherthrough a direct selection on a menu, or by indicating interest byclicking on an object in the programming or presented in a static ad.Stored ads and infomercials can be organized and presented by subjectmatter, and can be targeted to a household based on the preferences anddemographics of the household. Stored ads let viewers browse ads whichthey have determined have a high entertainment value. In addition, apayment/incentive system can be created to encourage viewers to watchads. One advantage of stored ads is that the ads/themes/products whichare of interested to the household can be easily identified bymonitoring which ads they select and how many times they select them.Applicants' provisional application 60/281,196 describes the selectionof ads in more detail.

Interactive ads can also be utilized to deliver advertising tosubscribers. In the interactive ads a user may be prompted to indicatewhich ad he/she wants to watch and then may asked to interact with thatad. The advantage of interactive advertisements is that the user isparticipating in the advertisement, which is likely to have asignificant and positive impact on recall. The interactive ad can alsosupply a vast amount of information to the viewer. In one embodiment,hyperlinks are presented in the ads which allow the user to accessinformation from the Internet or stored on the hard drive.

As can be readily understood, having storage capability as part of theSTB or in a VoD/PVC system allows for tremendous flexibility in thedelivery of advertising. Although the fast-forward feature may limit thevalue of traditional advertising, many new delivery mechanisms foradvertising are being envisioned.

Ad Queues and Ad Queue Management

Because of the potential for delivering a variety of types of ads andthe desire to target those ads, new management systems are required foradvertising on PVRs. Ad queues form part of this ad management systemand allow for the organization and presentation of different ads todifferent market segments and different subscribers. Ad queues can bebest understood in the context of a client side set-top box targetingsystem 600 such as that illustrated in FIG. 6A. The client side STB adtargeting system 600 is a software application that may be integratedinto a PVR-enabled set-top box (STB PVR). The middleware package or theunderlying operating system (OS) provides communication between theclient side STB ad targeting system 600 and other components in the STB.The targeted advertising features of the client side STB ad targetingsystem 600 permit the device to analyze viewer behavior (shows watched,channel surfing habits, commercial watching, etc.), infer viewerprofiles (demographic, psychographic, and behavioral attributes), selectand present advertisements based on user profiles derived from one ormore of the following: a demographic database, volunteered information,profiles, or an autonomous agent.

A cue message decoder 604 provides the functionality for decoding cuemessages. Cue messages are embedded in network video feeds. Theyindicate the presence of advertisement opportunities (“avails”) for theinsertion of advertisements. For digital-into-digital ad insertionsystems, the cue messaging may be based on the SCTE DVS-253 standardwhich is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

A metadata decoder 608 delivers all received metadata to the client sideSTB ad targeting system 600. The Metadata system may be based on theTV-Anytime Forum and MPEG-7 Metadata specifications. Metadata is datathat is associated with a particular section of content that describesthat content. Metadata includes descriptive items such as title, genre,cast, production company and production crew, language and other programrelated information. Metadata may also include the content's typical orintended demographic and psychographic groups.

An MPEG video switch 612 provides the functionality to seamlessly spliceMPEG video/audio sequences. This function allows for clean insertion ofads. Splicing of MPEG video/audio sequences is well known to thoseskilled in the art.

A digital rights management 616 component deals with the protection ofthe programming and advertisements to ensure that the content provider'scopyright is adequately protected. This protection can includeassurances that no unauthorized copies are made.

A video storage 620 component is used to store all video/audio programson the set-top box, including ads (commercials). The video storage 620may be implemented using a mass storage device, such as a hard diskdrive. Ad queues are used as part of or in conjunction with the videostorage 620 to provide proper sequencing of ads. A data storage 624component is used to store program metadata, profiles, and other data.Some part of the data storage 624 component may be non-volatile(survives power loss).

A user interface 628, typically implemented through on-screen graphicsand a remote control or remote keyboard, facilitates all of the controland interactions with the television viewer. Some of the interactionswill be used by the client side STB ad targeting system 600 to helpbuild the viewer profiles necessary to do individual ad targeting.

An upstream data transport 632 provides the service for sending data tothe head-end system. The upstream data transport 632 works inconjunction with the hardware to send signals upstream over cable,twisted wire pair, wireless, fiber, or other connection.

FIG. 6B illustrates a single ad queue 650 for multiple marketsegments/subscribers. The ad queue 650 is a data structure whichprovides organization to the ads that are to be played. Although the adsreferred to here are video ads, the ads may be of any type (virtual ads,IPG ads) or a combination of various types of ads. The ad queue 650contains pointers, or Ad Resource Locators (ARLs), that indicate whichad is to be played. The ARL can be in the form of a file name or may bean actual address on a hard drive. The ARL can point to a locally storedad or a remotely stored ad. The ad queue 650 can be local within the STBor can be at the head-end. As illustrated, the ad queue 650 contains anumber of ARLs including a first ARL 661 indicating that a Ford Taurusad is to be played, a second ARL 663 pointing to a Burger King ad, athird ARL 665 pointing to a Toys-R-Us ad, and a fourth ARL 667 pointingto an Eagles advertisement.

A mechanism to target ads is to form market segments into which groupsof ads are placed. As illustrated, the first ARL 661 can be grouped withthe fourth ARL 607 to form a first market segment 660. This first marketsegment may be for a large group or may be directed at a singlesubscriber in the household. A second market segment 670 can be formedto include the second ARL 663 and the third ARL 665.

FIG. 6C illustrates an alternate embodiment in which separate ad queuesare utilized to store the names or addresses of the ads which are to bepresented to the market segments or subscribers. A first ad queue 680stores the ads associated with the first market segment 660 and a secondad queue 690 stores the ads that are associated with the second marketsegment 670. Although described in terms of advertisements, the adqueues can be used to direct trick play ads which can be targeted usingall of the techniques developed for regular or virtual advertisements.Additionally, different versions of trick play ads can be generated suchthat when a first subscriber fast-forwards through an advertisement theyget a different trick play ad than a second subscriber whichfast-forwards through an advertisement.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary context diagram of a server side admanagement system (AMS) 700. The server side AMS 700 contains a platformthat manages the sales and distribution of television advertisements inthe cable television, DSL, or satellite environments. The server sideAMS 700 gives advertisers the ability to describe their advertisementsin terms of target market demographics, required ad bandwidth, adduration, and other ad specific parameters. The server side AMS 700matches the ads to the advertising opportunities that occur in thepackage of programming either delivered to subscribers in real time orstored on the subscriber's PVR hard disk drive. In addition, the systemwill work with prepend/postpend ad opportunities in a VoD environment.The server side AMS 700 tracks avails including duration and bandwidthof the avail, and uses a number of algorithms to determine if the ad canbe placed in the avail.

The targeted advertising features of the server side AMS 700 support andmanage all of the head-end/CO activities required to facilitate thetargeting of television adverting on PVR-enabled set-top boxes (STBPVRs). The functionality of the server side AMS 700 includes marketsegmentation, geodemographic database management, viewing statisticscollection, profile aggregation, ad server content and distributionmanagement, content metadata management, STB software management,interface to traffic and billing systems, and support of the ad salesprocess.

A geographic database 704 describes the subscriber area based on mapinformation and other geographic sources. This information is used tocreate maps of the subscriber area indicating market segmentation. Ademographic database 708 describes the basic demographic characteristicsof the neighborhoods within the subscriber area. This information isused by the server side AMS 700 to establish baseline market segmentsfor ad targeting. A subscriber database 736 includes identification,location, and services for each subscriber served. A traffic and billingsystem 712 is used by the service operator to provide support for the adinsertion process. The traffic and billing system 712 manages customercontracts and schedules, manages media and controls ad insertionequipment, reconciles verification lists from ad insertion equipment,creates affidavits and invoices, and helps ad sales staff with analysisand sales projections. An ad server 716 stores and distributes all ofthe advertisements for a particular set of subscribers. An adsales/media buyer 720 includes the provider's ad sales professionals,the advertisers, their ad agencies, and media planners/buyers. All ofthese people use the server side AMS 700 to plan and implement atargeted advertising campaign.

An STB profile data 732 may come from the profiling engine within theSTB and is used by the server side AMS 700 to refine the ad targetingstrategy and market segmentation. A STB download server 728 isresponsible for maintaining the software for the STBs. A STBverification data 724 may come from the STB ad queue system and is usedto verify that a particular ad was presented to a particular viewer.Applicants' patent applications U.S. Ser. No. 09/553,637 (now U.S. Pat.No. 6,820,277) and WO 00/64165 describe the AMS in more detail.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary block diagram for the client side STB adtargeting system 600 of FIG. 6. A communications module 804 handles theinteractions with the server side ad management system 700, uploadingand downloading data as required for system operation. An ad insertionmodule 812 handles the processes necessary to incorporate targeted adsinto television programs, including programs received in real-time orbeing played from the set-top box's hard disk. The ads may be insertedinto the program material at indicated points or “avails” (through cuemessages), or inserted before (pre-pended) or after (post-pended) aprogram. A profiling module 816 analyzes user actions and habits andinfers demographic, psychographic, and behavioral characteristics of theviewing household and individual viewers. A maintenance module 808handles all maintenance of the ad queue and program table. A databasemodule 800 stores information essential to the operation of the adqueuing and profiling system including viewer signatures, ad and programinformation (metadata), and possibly the ads themselves. A databaseaccess module 824 manages all access to the set-top database. Thedatabase access module 824 coordinates file system issues, multiplesimultaneous requests, etc. The user interface module 628 receives inputfrom the remote control keypad or keyboard associated with the set-topbox, selects appropriate events, and directs these events to the properdestinations within the ad queuing system.

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of the server side admanagement system 700 of FIG. 7. A web server 916 provides the front endto the ad sales/media buyer interface. The use of a web server 916 forthis application allows access to anyone with an appropriate web browserand access to the Internet 936. A screen automation module 920encapsulates the logic behind each of the presentation screens for thead sales/media buyer interface and manages all of the communicationbetween the web-based interface and the underlying database andprocessing engines. The UI module 628 renders web pages based on storedconfiguration data and the output of the screen automation module 920. Amapping module 908 creates geographic maps of selected subscriber areasincluding demographic boundary identification and market segmentassignments. A subscriber segmentation module 924 uses demographic,geographic, and subscriber data to form groups of subscribers that fallinto predefined market segments. These groups may be bounded by cablenode or cluster boundaries.

A rating and pricing module 928 estimates the effective rating for aparticular targeted ad campaign and creates pricing information based onthis rating and the provider's basic pricing structure. An ad managementdatabase 900 stores all of the subscriber, demographic, market segment,validation, and other data required for the server side ad managementsystem 700. A database access module 904 manages all access to the admanagement database 900. The database access module 904 formsappropriate queries based on requests from other system services andcoordinates multiple simultaneous requests. An external system interfacemodule 932 provides a single point of connection between the server sidead management system 700 and third party systems such as Traffic andBilling, and geodemographic service providers.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary data flow in a STB PVR (PVR enabledset-top box) for delivering targeted advertising. The STB differentiatesindividual viewing habits, characterizes the current viewer based oncurrent and historical viewing information, and selects advertisingappropriate for the current viewer based on the characterization. Ads1002 are received by the STB PVR from a downstream ad feed 1000 forstorage and subsequent presentation to the viewer. Control data relatedto ads (ad metadata) 1006 is received by the STB PVR from a downstreamcontrol feed 1004. The control data 1006 includes descriptions of the adcontent, target audience, encoding attributes, delivery instructions,and contract limitations. The control data can be created by a number ofparties including the ad producer, advertiser, media buyer, networkoperator, and broadband service provider. The set-top box can supplementthis control data by adding presentation history and user interactiondata.

The ads 1002 are filtered 1008 and the filtered ads 1012 are stored inan ad database 1014. The ad database 1014 resides in a large capacitylong-term storage device, such as a hard disk. The control data 1006 isprocessed 1010 to generate ad queue structures 1016 that are stored inan ad queue database 1018. The ad queue database 1040 also stores the admetadata 1006 received from the downstream control feed 1004. The adqueue database 1040 resides in long-term memory, such as a hard disk orflash memory. The system establishes a link that associates the admetadata with the related advertisements (illustrated as lines betweenfiltering 1008 and processing 1010).

The filtering 1008 determines whether an ad 1002 received from thedownstream ad feed 1000 is appropriate for the household by comparingthe target audience specified in the ad metadata 1006 with the viewerprofiles from a profile database 1046. Ads that are not appropriate forviewers in this household will be discarded. The ad metadata 1006 willeither be saved or discarded, depending upon whether the ad was saved ordiscarded. The processing 1010 manages the ad database 1014 and ad queuedatabase 1018 by examining the contract limits from the ad metadata 1006to determine when to purge ads and ad metadata from the associateddatabases. Additionally, the processing component 10101 updates the admetadata 1006 based on ad delivery and user interaction.

A downstream data feed 1020 delivers television program/content metadata1022. This data 1022 includes the program content, language information,ratings, encoding attributes, networks and air times, deliveryrequirements, and pricing. The program metadata 1022 can be created by anumber of parties including the program producer, media company, networkoperator, and broadband service provider. The set-top box can supplementthis program metadata 1022 by adding presentation history and userinteraction data.

The metadata 1022 is filtered and prepared 1024 and the preparedmetadata 1026 is stored in metadata storage 1028. The filtering andpreparing component 1024 makes a determination as to whether to storethe program metadata based on the program air times, network servicesavailable by the household, and current system time. The metadatastorage database 1028 stores program metadata received from thedownstream data feed 1020. The metadata storage database 1028 resides inlong-term memory, such as a hard disk or flash memory.

Note that the downstream data feed 1020, the filter and prepare metadatacomponent 1024, and metadata storage 1028 can be replaced by aninterface to an electronic program guide/interactive program guide(EPG/IPG) if the EPG/IPG allows access to the program metadata.

The user interface 628 supplies user events 1030 based on viewerinteraction with the remote control and the front panel of the set-topbox. These events 1030 include channel changes, volume changes, andVCR-like controls of the PVR. The filter events component 1032 examinesthe incoming event types and discards events not related to viewerprofiling. Filtered events 1034 are time stamped based on the time thatthe event occurred and stored in an event queue 1036. The event queue1036 stores the time stamped events 1034 in a sorted list. The eventqueue 1036 stores data from both the user interface 628 and acreate/update profile component 1038.

The create/update profile component 1038 uses events from the userinterface 628, program metadata from metadata storage 1028, and existingviewer profiles from a profile database 1046 to detect new viewinghabits and characterize the current viewer. The create/update profilecomponent 1040 generates internal events that are stored in the eventqueue 1032 along with the user interface events. These events indicatespecial future processing conditions such as the end of a program orchange in day part. This component also performs maintenance on theprofiles by combining similar profiles and deleting outdated profiles.

The profile database 1048 stores viewer profiles. New profiles are theresult of a single viewing session. The create/update profile component1052 can update a profile with additional viewing information. As aprofile accumulates historical viewership data, it becomes a moreaccurate representation of the viewer. The predominant viewer profileswill accumulate the largest amount of viewing history. When determiningwhether to save ads in an ad database of limited size, those viewerprofiles with the most viewing time will receive the most storagecapacity for targeted ads.

When an ad insertion opportunity arises, the set-top box determineswhether the current session profile matches any of the historicalprofiles in the profile database. If a match exists, the match will beused for selecting an appropriate advertisement. Otherwise, the set-topbox uses the current session profile to select an appropriateadvertisement. After presenting the ad to the viewer, the system updatesthe ad metadata and transmits an insertion report to the head-end.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary data flow in an ad management systemdesigned to deliver targeted advertisements to a PVR-enabled set-topbox. This system includes different head-end servers that are used tosegment the subscribers, deliver content and metadata to the set-topboxes, collect ad insertion results, and collect privacy protectedsummary data about the subscriber viewing habits. A remote manager 1100provides a dynamic method of updating software and data files on theset-top box, including updating the viewer profiling and ad targetingapplications. The remote manager 1100 delivers software updates 1102that include application enhancements, defect corrections, and data filechanges. The software updates are processed 1104 and the processed SWupdates 1106 are stored in a storage device (SW storage) 1108. Theprocessing 1104 includes accepting new software builds and theassociated data files and determining the updates that need to bedelivered to each group of set-top boxes based on network servicerequirements for that franchise and software build information. Theupdated software and support data files 1106 are maintained on thestorage device until it is time to deliver them to the set-top boxes.The software updates 1106 are delivered in accordance with a schedule1110. The schedule 1110 plans delivery of the updated software 1106 forperiods of low television viewership. The software updates 1106 are sentto an STB data server 1112, which transmits the files to the appropriateset-top boxes.

An IPG Server 1114 delivers interactive program guide information in theform of program metadata 1116. A broadcast conduit 1118 receives programmetadata from broadcasters and content providers and deliver the programmetadata 1120. The program metadata (from both sources) 1116, 1120 iscollected and processed 1122. The processing 1122 includes combining theprogram metadata from the different sources 1116, 1120 and formatting itfor delivery to the set-top boxes. The program metadata 1116, 1120includes program content, language information, ratings, encodingattributes, networks and air times, delivery requirements, and pricing.The formatted program metadata 1124 is sent to the STB data server 1112,which transmits it to the appropriate set-top boxes.

The demographic database 708 contains demographic data 1126 sorted bygeographic region. The primary categories of demographic data 1126include household income, household size, race/ethnicity, andoccupation. In order to maintain the subscriber privacy, the databasetypically maintains data at either a zip+4 or block group level. Thesubscriber database 736 contains information about the serviceprovider's subscribers 1128. For each subscriber, the database 736 mustcontain the node on which the household resides and the key to obtaindemographic data for that subscriber. The database 736 does not need tomaintain privacy related information such as the subscriber name andaddress. The geographic database 704 maintains detailed maps of theservice provider region 1130. The system uses the geographic database704 to help visualize the market segmentation of the service provider'sregion of coverage. Data from the demographic database 708, thesubscriber database 736, and the geographic database 704 are combined inorder to create 1132 market segments for each subscriber (i.e.,segmented subscriber data 1134). The segmented subscriber data 1134 isstored in a market segment database 1136.

The ad sales application 720 assists the sales force in selling targetedspots to advertisers. The sales force identifies subscribers 1138 thatit is interested in targeting ads to and creates 1140 DB queries 1142.The DB queries 1142 are applied to the market segment database 1136. Theresults of the queries (subscriber market segmentation data 1143) areused for computing tables and rendering maps 1144. The results of thecomputation (market segment aids 1146) are displayed to the advertiser(sales force) using the ad sales application 720. The market segmentaids include display of market segment definitions, color coded marketsegment maps of the service provider coverage area, and ratings andpricing for targeted advertising based on network, spot time, andadvertisement.

The STB Data Server 1112 generates viewer profiles 1146 based onhistorical data of television viewing habits (collected metadata).Although the raw data is not exported, the set-top box can summarize thedata and transmit it upstream where it is processed and aggregated 1148with similar information from other STBs. The process aggregates similarprofiles to create a privacy-protected view of the households by region1150. The ad sales application 720 uses this data 1150 to help determinethe target audience of advertisements.

The traffic and billing system 712 manages the advertising campaign andcontrols advertising campaigns for broadcast systems, personal videorecorders, and video on demand. The sales force enters requirements forviewership ratings, frequency of viewership by the target audience, andflight information, which indicates the networks and times fordisplaying the advertisement (ad campaign data 1152). Based on thedefined ad campaign data 1152 and the market segment data 1143 from themarket segment database 1136 an ad queue and schedule is created 1154.Based on the ad schedule 1154, ad download instructions 1156 aretransmitted to the ad server 716. The ad server 716 determines theavailability of the ads (ad availability information 1158) identified inthe download instructions 1156. The ad server 716 transmits availableads and ad metadata to set-top boxes based on the ad schedule 1154. Ifthe ads are displayed to the subscriber, the STB data server 1112generates an ad play report 1160. The ad availability information 1158and the ad play reports 1160 are formatted 1162 to create reports/logs1164 that are forwarded to the T&B system 712. The traffic and billingsystem 712 bills the advertiser based on requirements satisfied duringthe campaign.

The T&B system 712 also allows the advertisers to create a VoD adcampaign 1166. Based on the ad campaign 1166 a prepend/postpend adschedule component 1168 is created. Based on the schedule 1168, addelivery instructions 1170 are transmitted to the VoD Server 1172. TheVoD Server 1172 stores content to support the video-on-demand service.The VoD Server 1172 uses the ad delivery instructions 1170 to schedulethe ads for display at the beginning and end of VoD content. The trafficand billing system 712 tracks the insertion results and bills theadvertiser based on the insertions and contract requirements.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the alternative advertisements 230, 240 aredisplayed in place of or in conjunction with the fast forwarding,rewinding, skip or pausing advertisements 210, 220, when the subscriberfast forwards, rewinds, skips or pauses (trick play events) through therecorded advertisements 110, 120. As previously discussed, for ease andclarity fast forward will be focused on throughout this application.However, the invention is not limited thereto and in fact the currentinvention can be applied when any altering activity is performed on arecorded advertisement (trick-play events). In a preferred embodiment,the alternative advertisements 230, 240 are related to the recordedadvertisements 110, 120 so that the advertisers are getting at leastsome value out of their advertisement even when the subscriber fastforwards through the advertisement. However, it is also possible thatthe alternative advertisements 230, 240 are not related to the recordedadvertisements 110, 120, and may actually be an advertisement for adifferent product or service. The alternative advertisements 230, 240may be a separate video (preferred for non-related advertisements) ormay be derived from the video for the recorded advertisements 110, 120.

FIGS. 12A-B illustrate several exemplary embodiments associated with thealternative advertisement being a separate video (and thus potentiallyan alternative advertisement unrelated to the advertisement). FIG. 12Aillustrates an embodiment where a program source (video source) 1200transmits a program stream (video stream) 1210 including programming1220 and both an advertisement 1230 and an alternative advertisement1240 (in a preferred embodiment a related alternative ad) to a PVR 1250.The video source 1200 may be a satellite, a head-end, a networked videoserver, prerecorded video on a number of mediums, or other sources thatwould be well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. The PVR 1250may be a HE PVR, a STB PVR, some combination of a HE/STB PVR, or sometype of video source server (i.e., DVD). The video stream 1210 may betransmitted from the video source 1200 to the PVR 1250 using a videodelivery system, such as those previously discussed.

In this embodiment, the advertisement 1230 and the alternativeadvertisement 1240 may be the same type (i.e., compressed digitalvideo). For example, in a digital video environment, it is likely thatthe video would be compressed in accordance with a compression standard,such as MPEG-2 (the Moving Picture Experts Group system). ISO/IEC 13818is the current standard for digital video broadcast and digital videodisk and this standard is herein incorporate by reference in itsentirety. However, as one skilled in the art would recognize, there areother standards for video compression now known or later discovered thatcould be used that would be well within the scope of the currentinvention including, but not limited to, MPEG-4 (ISO/IEC 14496 is thestandard for multimedia for the fixed and mobile web applications and isherein incorporated by reference in its entirety), Microsoft® WindowsMedia Video, RealNetworks® RealVideo and On2 Technologies VP4.Alternatively, the alternative advertisement 1240 may have a differentformat than the advertisement 1230.

The PVR 1250 will display the advertisement 1230 to a subscriber 1260 ifthe video stream 1210 was either not recorded or if the advertisement1230 within the video stream 1210 is played back at normal speed 1270.If the video stream was recorded and the subscriber 1260 fast forwards1280 (or any other trick-play event) the advertisement 1230, thealternative advertisement 1240 will be displayed to the subscriber 1260.Displaying the alternative advertisement 1240 may be in place of or inconjunction with the fast forwarding advertisement 1230. In effect, thePVR 1250 is switching between the two different video advertisements(advertisement 1230 and alternative advertisement 1240) that werereceived within the video stream 1210.

As one skilled in the art knows, the audio associated withadvertisements may be transported along with the advertisements or maybe transmitted as a separate file from the advertisements. Asillustrated, there is no separate audio for the advertisement 1230 orthe alternative advertisement 1240 indicating that the audio wastransported along with the appropriate advertisement (or that no audiois associated with the ads). However, it should be noted that therecould be a separate audio stream (not illustrated) for each of theadvertisements (ad 1230 and alternative ad 1240) within the programstream 1210. In either event, the PVR 1250 plays the audio associatedwith the selected advertisement (advertisement 1230 for play 1270 andalternative ad 1240 for fast forward 1280). The playing of audio withthe alternative ad advantageous. The alternative audio can be a sequenceof musical notes or any other appropriate audio message such as the nameof the manufacturer or a sound associated with the manufacturer orproduct. In an alternative embodiment, there is either no audio for thealternative ad 1240 or the audio is a generic audio (i.e., sound, tone,jingle).

It should be noted that the advertisement 1230 and the alternativeadvertisement 1240 may be default advertisements (everybody connected tothat video delivery system receives the same advertisement) or they maybe targeted advertisements. The advertisements may be targeted based ongeodemographics (i.e., node or cluster of nodes), household (i.e., STBPVR), or individual (session based). The targeting of ads is describedin applicants' applications U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/635,544;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/998,979 (now U.S. Pat. No.7,260,823); U.S. Provisional Application 60/278,612; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/928,024 and WO/01/25261. Depending on thecriteria used to target the advertisements 1230 and alternativeadvertisements 1240, it is possible for different nodes, households orsubscribers 1260 to receive the same targeted advertisement 1230 butdifferent targeted alternative advertisements 1240.

According to one embodiment, the video stream 1210 may include multiplealternative advertisements 1240, and the PVR 1250 determines whichalternative advertisement 1240 to display to the subscriber 1260 basedon which subscriber 1260 (individual subscriber or group of subscribers)the PVR 1250 determines is interacting with (i.e., viewing) the videostream 1210. That is, the alternative advertisement 1240 is targeted tothe subscriber 1260 (regardless of whether the advertisement 1230 was adefault ad or was targeted). It should be noted that a system fordetermining who is likely to be viewing the programming may beincorporated into the PVR 1250, may be a separate system that providesthe results to the PVR 1250, or some combination or iteration thereof.Applicant's applications U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/204,888(now U.S. Pat. No. 7,150,030); WO/99/33160; U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/516,983 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,240,355); U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/871,526; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/591,577 (nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,949,565); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/635,252;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/205,653 (now U.S. Pat. No.6,457,010); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/452,893 9 (now U.S. Pat.No. 6,684,194; WO 00/33233; and U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/998,979 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,260,832) describe in more detail systemsfor profiling subscribers based on their interactions with the TV, andpossibly other data that can be gathered about the subscribers, and foridentifying the subscribers by comparing current interactions to thegenerated profiles.

FIG. 12B illustrates an exemplary embodiment in which the alternativeadvertisement 1240 is not received within the video stream 1210 but isreceived separately. The alternative advertisement 1240 may be receivedfrom the same video source 1200, a media buyer, directly from anadvertiser, or from other external sources that would be known to thoseskilled in the art. The alternative advertisement 1240 may be deliveredvia the same video delivery network as the video stream 1210 (i.e., viaan ad channel) or may be delivered via a different network, such as theInternet. The alternative advertisement 1240 may have a format similar(i.e., MPEG-2) to that of the advertisement 1230, or it may have aseparate format, such as HTML, streaming media, Flash, Shockwave, orother formats well known to those skilled in the art. As previouslydiscussed, the advertisements 1230 and the alternative advertisements1240 may be default ads or may be targeted ads.

The alternative advertisement 1240 may be delivered to the PVR 1250 inorder to be received at the same time (or close proximity) to theadvertisement 1230 or may be delivered at completely separate times,such as during off hours. In any event, the PVR 1250 needs to associatethe alternative advertisement 1240 and the advertisement 1230 so that itcan deliver the appropriate advertisement (advertisement 1230 oralternative advertisement 1240) to the subscriber 1260 based on the mode(play 1270 or fast forward 1280) of playback. According to oneembodiment, the alternative advertisement 1240 received by and stored onthe PVR 1250 may be nothing more than a URL address. If the subscriber1260 fast forwards 1280 through the advertisement 1230, the PVR 1250will deliver the contents of the URL to the subscriber 1260. Regardlessof the format of the alternative advertisement 1240, it may be displayedin place of the fast forwarding advertisement 1230 or in conjunctionwith the fast forwarding advertisement 1230.

As illustrated, there is no separate audio for the advertisement 1230 orthe alternative advertisement 1240 indicating that the audio wastransported along with the appropriate advertisement. However, therecould be a separate audio stream (not illustrated) for the advertisement1230 within the program stream or for the alternative ad 1240 receivedseparately. Moreover, the audio associated with the ad 1230 could bereceived separately (not within the program stream). Furthermore, theaudio associated with the alt ad 1240 (which is received separately)could be received within the program stream 1210. In any event, the PVR1250 either plays the audio associated with the selected advertisement(1230 or 1240), no audio or a standard audio.

According to one embodiment, multiple alternative advertisements 1240are delivered to the PVR 1250 and stored thereon. Each of thealternative ads 1240 received by the PVR 1250 must be associated withthe appropriate advertisement 1230. The PVR 1250 determines whichsubscriber 1260 (individual or group) is viewing the video stream 1210and displays the appropriate alternative advertisement 1240 (in place ofor in conjunction with the fast forwarding advertisement 1230) when thesubscriber 1260 fast forwards 1280 through the recorded advertisement1230. As previously discussed, the determination of which subscriber isinteracting with the TV (i.e., viewing the video stream 1210) may bedone by profiling the subscribers based on their interactions.

FIGS. 13A-C illustrate several exemplary embodiments associated with analternative advertisement 1300 being derived from the advertisement 1230by utilizing processing rules 1310. FIG. 13A illustrates an embodimentwhere the video source 1200 transmits the video stream 1210 includingprogramming 1220 and both the advertisement 1230 (default or targeted)and the processing rules 1310 (i.e., data file) to the PVR 1250. Theprocessing rules 1310 will be described in more detail later. The PVR1250 may include an alternative ad generator 1320 that generates thealternative ad 1300 by applying the processing rules 1310 to theadvertisement 1230. Based on whether the subscriber 1260 is fastforwarding 1280 through the advertisement 1230 or playing theadvertisement 1230 at regular speed 1270 determines whether thealternative advertisement 1300 (either alone or in conjunction with thefast forwarding advertisement 1230) or the advertisement 1230 isdisplayed to the subscriber 1260.

The alternative ad generator 1320 may generate the alternative ad 1300for each ad 1230 that is received, may generate the alternative ad 1300for each ad 1230 that is recorded, or may generate the alternative ad1300 on the fly for those ads 1230 that are being fast forwarded 1280through. If the alternative ads 1300 are generated in advance of whenthey would be displayed (i.e., for each ad or for each recorded ad), thealternative ads 1300 would be stored within the PVR 1250 until they arerequired. The alternative ads 1300 could be purged as soon as they areplayed, after the corresponding ad 1230 is played and not recorded, atsome predefined time interval (i.e., after a week), after the recordedad 1230 was played, after the recorded ad 1230 is purged from the PVR1250, or other scenarios that would be obvious to those of ordinaryskill in the art.

As illustrated, there is no separate audio or separate audio processingrules indicating that the audio was transported along with theadvertisement 1230 and the processing rules 1310 covered both the videoand the audio. However, as previously noted there could be a separateaudio stream (not illustrated) for the advertisement 1230 within theprogram stream 1210. Moreover, there could be a separate audio fileassociated with what will become the alternative advertisement 1300within the program stream 1210 (with ad 1230 or as separate file). Infact, receiving a separate audio file for the alternative advertisement(regardless of how it is received) is preferred as manipulation of, forexample, a 30 second audio track to produce a 2 second alternative audiotrack is not simple. In another embodiment, a second set of processingrules may be received for the audio. In any event, the PVR 1250 playseither the audio associated with the selected advertisement (1230 or1240), a standard audio or no audio.

According to one embodiment, the processing rules 1310 may actuallyconsist of multiple sets of processing rules 1310 with each setdescribing a different way to modify the advertisement 1230. Thealternative advertisement 1300 is created based on who the PVR 1250determines is watching the video stream 1210 an applying the appropriateset of processing rules 1310. That is, the alternative advertisement1300 may be customized (targeted) to the subscriber 1260 (individualsubscriber or group of subscribers) that is determined to be viewing thevideo stream 1210 (regardless of whether the advertisement 1230 was adefault or was targeted). A system for determining who is likely to beviewing the TV (i.e., the video stream 1210) has previously beendiscussed.

Multiple alternative advertisements 1300 may be made by applying eachset of processing rules 1310 for each advertisement 1230 that is:recorded, played back, or fast forwarded during playback. Alternatively,only the set of processing rules 1310 associated with the appropriatesubscriber 1260 are applied so that only targeted alternativeadvertisements 1300 are generated for the current subscriber 1260 whenthe associated advertisement 1230 is: recorded, played back, or fastforwarded during playback. In either event, if alternativeadvertisements 1300 are created prior to the fast forwarding event 1280they will need to be stored on the PVR 1260 and then purged at theappropriate time (i.e., after a certain time, after playback, after ad1230 is purged).

The different sets of processing rules 1310 are likely based ondifferent viewing preferences of the subscriber 1260. For example,processing rules 1310 for a subscriber 1260 whose viewing preferencesindicate that they do not to like a lot of action in their programchoices may be to simply select an individual image from theadvertisement 1230 and display it for the length of the alternativeadvertisement 1300 (i.e., 2 seconds). Application of this processingrule 1310 would generate an alternative ad 1300 that was a still image.Alternatively, processing rules 1310 for a subscriber 1260 whose viewingpreferences was quick changing action may be to select several imagesand display each of them for a certain time (i.e., four images each fora half-second for the two second alternative ad 1300). Other processingrules 1310 may be to display a certain portion of the advertisement 1230(i.e., first two seconds, last two seconds).

FIG. 13B illustrates an exemplary embodiment in which the processingrules 1310 are not received within the video stream 1210 but arereceived separately. The processing rules 1310 may be received from thesame video source 1200, a media buyer, directly from an advertiser, orfrom other external sources that would be known to those skilled in theart. The processing rules 1310 may be delivered via the same videodelivery network as the video stream 1210 or may be delivered via aseparate network, such as the Internet. The processing rules 1310 may bedelivered to the PVR 1250 in order to be received at the same time (orclose proximity) to the advertisement 1230 or may be delivered atcompletely separate times, such as during off hours. In any event, thePVR 1250 needs to associate the processing rules 1310 and theadvertisement 1230 so that it can generate the alternative advertisement1300. The alternative ads 1300 may be generated prior to a fast forwardevent 1280 and stored on the PVR 1250 or may be generated on the fly asthe fast forward event 1280 occurs.

As illustrated, there is no separate audio or separate audio processingrules indicating they were included in the advertisement 1230 and theprocessing rules 1310 respectively. However, as previously noted therecould be a separate audio stream (not illustrated) for the advertisement1230 within the program stream 1210 or received separately. Moreover, ina preferred embodiment there could be a separate audio file (alternativeaudio) associated with what will become the alternative advertisement1300. The alternative audio could be received within the program stream1210 (with ad 1230 or as separate file) or received separately (i.e., adchannel or Internet connection). In another embodiment, a second set ofprocessing rules may be received for the audio. In any event, the PVR1250 either plays the audio associated with the selected advertisement(1230 or 1240), no audio, or standard audio.

According to one embodiment, multiple sets of processing rules 1310(each set describing a different way to modify the advertisement 1230)are delivered to the PVR 1250 and stored thereon. Each set of processingrules 1310 received by the PVR 1250 must be associated with theappropriate advertisement 1230. The PVR 1250 may generate multiplealternative ads 1300 based on the advertisement 1230 and the differentsets of rules 1310, or may only generate the alternative advertisement1300 associated with the current subscriber 1260. The alternative ads1300 may be generated in advance (before the fast forward event) or onthe fly (during the fast forward event).

FIG. 13C illustrates an exemplary embodiment in which processing rules1330 are already stored on the PVR 1250 and are thus not related to thespecific ads 1230. The processing rules 1330 contained on the PVR 1250may have been preloaded at time of purchase or installation, may havebeen created by the subscriber 1260, may have been created by thenetwork operator and loaded onto the PVR 1250 via the video deliverynetwork or via a separate connection, such as the Internet. In thisembodiment, there are no alternative advertisements 1240 or processingrules 1310 associated with the advertisements 1230 delivered to the PVR1250 via any means. Rather the processing rules 1330 will be generic andthe advertisements 1230 will have to somewhat follow a format associatedwith the processing rules 1330 so that alternative advertisements 1340can be created by applying the processing rules 1330 to anyadvertisement 1230.

As illustrated, there is no separate audio processing rules thusindicating the processing rules 1310 cover audio as well. However, therecould be a second set of processing rules for the audio. As theprocessing rules stored on the PVR are likely generic, the audio wouldhave to be formatted to work with the generic rules (for example, theprocessing rules may define using the first two seconds of audio so thefirst two seconds of the audio would have to be what the advertiserwanted played during an alternative ad). According to one embodiment,either no audio or standard audio is played during the alternativeadvertisement. In another embodiment, a separate audio file (alternativeaudio) associated with what will become the alternative advertisement1340 is received. The alternative audio could be received within theprogram stream 1210 (with ad 1230 or as separate file) or receivedseparately (i.e., ad channel or Internet connection).

According to one embodiment, multiple processing rules 1330 may exist onthe PVR 1250, with each processing rule 1330 being associated with oneor more subscribers 1260 (individual or group) that may be viewing thevideo stream. The PVR 1250 may develop an alternative ad 1340 for eachset of processing rules 1330 or simply for the processing rules 1330associated with the current subscriber 1260. The processing rules 1330may be applied in advance and the alternative ad 1340 thus stored on thePVR 1250, or may be generated as the recorded advertisement 1230 is fastforwarded 1280 (on the fly).

FIGS. 14A-B illustrate several exemplary embodiments whereadvertisements 1410 (in a preferred embodiment targeted advertisements)and an ad queue 1420 are stored on the PVR 1250. The video stream 1210from the video server 1200 includes avails 1400 (either blank avails oravails with default ads available for replacement with targeted ads).The PVR 1250 inserts the ads 1410 in the avails 1400 based on the adqueue 1420. The ad queue 1420 is a list of the next ads 1410 that shouldbe inserted. The ad queue 1420 may vary based on what subscriber 1260 isinteracting with the TV, what time of day it is, what day of the week,what programs are on, and other criteria that would be well within thescope of the current invention. Applicants applications U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/712,790 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,151,295), U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/742,534 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,039,932) andU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/742,852 describe ad queues in moredetail.

It should be noted that the ad queue 1420 provides a pointer, which maybe in the form of an ad resource locator (ARL), to the ads 1410 that areto be inserted. The ad queue 1420 points to the location of the ads 1410within the PVR 1250. However, the invention is in no way intended to belimited thereto. Rather, the ads 1410 may be stored externally (i.e., ona separate storage device, by the advertiser or media buyer) anddelivered to the PVR 1250 when the ad queue 1420 determines it isappropriate. If stored externally, the ads 1410 may be delivered to thePVR 1250 in advance of the insertion of the ad 1410 (i.e., when the adqueue 1420 identifies the ad 1410 as the next ad to be inserted) or atthe time of insertion. The ads 1410 may be delivered via the videodelivery network or via an external connection, such as the Internet.

FIG. 14A illustrates an exemplary embodiment, in which alternative ads1430 are also stored on the PVR 1250. In a preferred embodiment, thealternative ads 1430 are related to the ads 1410. However, the inventionis not limited thereto, as alternative embodiments may have alternativeads 1430 that are not related to the ads 1410. If the subscriber 1260fast forwards 1280 through an advertisement 1410 that was inserted inthe video stream 1210 and recorded by the PVR 1250, then the PVR 1250displays the alternative ad 1430 (either in place of or in conjunctionwith the advertisement 1410). As previously noted, the alternative ads1430 may have a format different than the format of the ad 1410. Forexample, the ad 1410 may be in MPEG format while the alternative ad 1430may be HTML, Flash, Shockwave, streaming media or other formats.

If the alternative ads 1430 are related to ads 1410, there will have tobe a link between the two so that the PVR 1250 knows which alternativead 1430 to display if the ad 1410 is fast forwarded 1280. If thealternative ads 1430 are not related to the ads 1410, then a separatequeue may be maintained for the alternative ads. The separate queue maybe a subset of the ad queue 1420 or may be a completely separate queue.

There is no audio illustrated indicating that it is part of theadvertisements 1410 and alternative advertisements 1430. However, theaudio for each of the advertisements could be stored separately. If theaudio was separate the audio and video would be linked in a preferredembodiment.

According to one embodiment, there may be several alternative ads 1430for each ad 1410, with the appropriate alternative ad being selectedbased on which subscriber 1260 (individual or group) is interacting withthe video programming 1210.

As illustrated, the ads 1410, ad queue 1420 and alternative ads 1430 areseparate, possibly indicating that there are separate memory devices foreach of these. The current invention covers any implementation of memorythat may be used to capture this data, including a separate memorydevice for each, or a single memory device that contains all the databut is partitioned in some fashion. As one skilled in the art wouldrecognize, the memory could be RAM, a hard drive, a CD, a memory stickor any other types of memory that would be obvious to one of ordinaryskill in the art. Moreover, it should be noted that the alternative ads1430 may also be stored external to the PVR 1250.

FIG. 14B illustrates an exemplary embodiment, in which processing rules1440 are stored on the PVR 1250. The processing rules 1440 may beassociated with the ads 1410 or may be general processing rules. The PVR1250 may generate alternative ads 1450 in advance of when they areneeded or on the fly when the fast forward event occurs. If thesubscriber 1260 fast forwards through a recorded advertisement 1410,then the PVR 1250 displays the alternative ad 1450 (either in place ofor in conjunction with the advertisement 1410). As would be obvious toone of ordinary skill in the art, the processing rules 1440 may also bestored external to the PVR 1250. According to one embodiment, there maybe several processing rules 1440 for each ad 1410, with the appropriateprocessing rules 1440 being applied to generate the appropriatealternative ad 1450 based on which subscriber 1260 (individual or group)is interacting with the video programming 1210.

There is no separate audio or separate audio processing rulesillustrated indicating that the audio is part of the advertisements 1410and the audio processing rules are part of the processing rules 1440.However, the audio for each of the advertisements 1410 and the audioprocessing rules could be stored separately. Furthermore, separate audiofiles could be stored for what will become the alternative ads 1450.Alternatively, there may be no audio or generic audio (i.e., tone)associated with the alternative ads.

It should be noted that the exemplary embodiments discussed in relationto FIGS. 12-14 may be combined in different fashions without departingfrom the scope of the current invention. For example, the PVR may beable to receive alternative ads (related and non-related) and associatedalternative audio, and processing rules (for both audio and video) viaboth the video delivery network and the alternative connection, as wellas store ads (targeted and non-targeted), alternative ads (targeted,non-targeted, related and non-related) and processing rules thereon.

Before discussing in detail how the processing rules generate analternative ad (video) from a standard advertisement, an exemplaryoverview of MPEG coding is provided in FIG. 15 that illustrates anexemplary one second of an MPEG stream. As would be obvious to one ofordinary skill in the art, an MPEG stream consists of three separatetype of frames, I-frames 1500, P-frames 1510 and B-frames 1520. TheI-frames 1500 are compressed (or coded) using only information withinthe frame (called intra-frame coding), the P-frames 1510 are compressedusing information within the frame as well as information from theprevious I or P frame (called inter-frame or predictive coding) and theB-frames 1520 are compressed using information within the frame as wellas information from the previous I or P frame and from the next I or Pframe (called bi-directional inter-frame or predictive coding). Asillustrated, there is an I-frame 1500 every 15^(th) frame. As one ofordinary skill in the art would recognize, I frames may have anyarbitrary spacing, or may not be present at all. For example, I-framesmay be repeated at different intervals, such as every 3^(rd) (IBBI),6^(th) (IBBPBBI), 9^(th) (IBBPBBPBBPBBI), 12^(th), 15^(th), 18^(th), andso on frames. Common practice (striking a compromise between goodcompression and rapid access), though dictates typical I-frame intervalsof 12 or 15 frames.

As previously mentioned, the processing rules may be specific to theadvertisement or may be generic in nature. The processing rules maystate which frames from the advertisement to use to create the trickplay ad. As one skilled in the art would recognize, processing rulesspecific to the advertisement could be much more elaborate than genericprocessing rules. That is, the generic rules may simply specify a singleframe to display (i.e., first I-Frame), or a particular segment of video(i.e., first 2 seconds), or simple combinations of the above (i.e.,first and second I-frames; first I-frame for 1 second followed by 1second of video). The specific processing rules could identify exactframes, sets of frames, segments of video, and any complex combinationthereof (i.e., 3^(rd) I-Frame for ½ second, followed by segment of videobetween 21^(st) and 22^(nd) second of ad, followed by 1^(st) I-frame for½ second). In addition, the processing rules could also define editingof the various frames or video segments (i.e., cropping; changing videofeatures such as color, tint, hue, contrast; adding computer generatedgraphics; displaying different frames at the same time (i.e., one on topand one on bottom); using one frame as the background for video segmentsbeing run in front of the frame).

As previously mentioned, there may be multiple sets of processing rulesdefined for each advertisement (specific rules) or for each subscriber(generic rules). The different sets of rules could create differentadvertisements based on who was determined to be viewing theprogramming.

According to one embodiment, the frames or segments of video that makeup the advertisement may be flagged with some type of designations. Thisflagging may be performed when the advertisement is generated or anytimeafter ad production. The flagging of the frames may be done in numerousmethods known to those of ordinary skill in the art, including but notlimited to user data embedded in the compressed video stream (asdefined, for example in the MPEG-2 video specification—ISO/IEC 13818-2which is herein incorporated by reference), or as a separate packetizeddata steam associated and synchronized with a specific program (asdefined, for example, in the MPEG-2 systems specification—ISO/IEC13818-1 which is herein incorporated by reference), or as a separatedata file that provides pointers to flagged frames in the advertisement.If the advertisement is flagged in some fashion, the processing rulescould rely on the flagging in order to generate the alternativeadvertisement. Additionally, the flagging could be used to customize(target) the alternative advertisement to the subscriber that isdetermined to be interacting with the program stream. As should beobvious, the generic processing rules associated with flaggedadvertisements are much more simple than processing rules that would beassociated with the advertisement.

Exemplary specific processing rules for flagged advertisements mayinclude: display all the video that is flagged in a certain fashion(i.e., designated with a 1); add computer-generated graphics to allframes flagged with a 2, crop the frames flagged with a 3. Exemplarygeneric processing rules for flagged advertisements may include: displayall the video that is flagged with a 1. There are multiple generic andspecific rules that would be well within the scope of the currentinvention.

FIGS. 16A-B illustrate an exemplary advertisement in MPEG format andseveral exemplary alternative advertisements that can be createdtherefrom. As illustrated, the exemplary advertisement 1600 has anI-frame every 6^(th) frame. That is, the 1^(st) I frame is the 1^(st)frame 1602, the second I frame is the 7^(th) frame 1604, the 3^(rd) Iframe is the 13^(th) frame 1606, the 4^(th) I frame is the 19^(th) frame1608, and the 5^(th) I frame is the 25^(th) frame 1610. The processingrules used to generate the alternative ads may have been specific to theadvertisement 1600 or general in nature, and the advertisement 1600 maybe flagged in some fashion or not. An important aspect of the processingrules as shown in the exemplary alternative advertisements in FIGS.16A-B, is the preservation of inter-frame coding relationships. That is,a predicted frame (ether P-frame or B-frame in the MPEG-2 examples) mustbe accompanied by the necessary anchor frames (I or P frames used topredict the inter-frame coded picture).

FIG. 16A illustrates exemplary alternative advertisements made up ofonly I-frames. A first exemplary alternative advertisement 1620 is asingle I frame for the entire time it takes to fast forward through theadvertisement. As illustrated, frame 1606 was selected to display. Asecond exemplary alternative advertisement 1630 is several contiguousand sequential I-frames being displayed. As illustrated, the 2^(nd)I-frame (7^(th) frame) 1604, the 3^(rd) I frame (13^(th) frame) 1606,and the 4^(th) I-frame (19^(th) frame) 1608 are displayed one afteranother. A third exemplary alternative advertisement 1640 is severalsequential I-frames being displayed. As illustrated, the 1^(st) I-frame(1^(st) frame) 1602, and the 5^(th) I-frame (25^(th) frame) 1610 aredisplayed one after another. A fourth exemplary alternativeadvertisement 1650 is several I-frames being displayed out of sequence.As illustrated, the 3^(rd) I-frame (13^(th) frame) 1606, the firstI-frame (1^(st) frame) 1602, and the 5^(th) I-frame (25^(th) frame) 1610are displayed one after another. As one skilled in the art wouldrecognize, there are numerous combinations of displaying single imagesone after another that would be well within the scope of the currentinvention.

FIG. 16B illustrates exemplary alternative advertisements made up ofsegments of video from the original advertisement 1600. A firstexemplary alternative advertisement 1660 is a single segment of videoextracted unedited from the advertisement 1600. As illustrated, thevideo from the 3^(rd) I-frame 1606 through the fourth I-frame 1608 andcontinuing to the 1^(st) P-frame thereafter makes up the alternativeadvertisement 1660. A second exemplary alternative advertisement 1670 isa single segment of video that is edited from the form of theadvertisement 1600. As illustrated, the third I-frame 1606 is displayedfollowed by only limited B-frames thereafter, followed by the fourthI-frame 1608 and a majority of the B-frames and P-frames thereafter,followed by the fifth I-frame 1610. In this embodiment, the segment ofvideo was similar to the unedited version 1660, except certain B-framesand P-frames were removed and additional video was displayed (I-frame1610). A third exemplary alternative advertisement 1680 is severalsegments of video combined together (edited or unedited, in order or outof order). As illustrated, the entire video between I-frame 1606 and Iframe 1608, is followed by an edited version of the video from I-frame1602 to I-frame 1604. As one skilled in the art would recognize, thereare numerous combinations of displaying segments of video that would bewell within the scope of the current invention.

FIG. 16C illustrates exemplary alternative advertisements made up of acombination of segments of video and I-frames from the originaladvertisement 1600. A first exemplary alternative advertisement 1690 isa combination of a segment of unedited video and an I-frame. Asillustrated, the video from I-frame 1604 to I-frame 1606 is followed bythe repetition of I-frame 1606. A second exemplary alternativeadvertisement 1692 is a combination of segments of edited video andI-frames. As illustrated, I-frame 1602 is repeated, followed by editedvideo from I-frame 1602 through I-frame 1604 and beyond, followed byrepetition of I-frame 1608. A third exemplary alternative advertisement1694 is a combination of segments of video and I-frames out of sequence.As illustrated, the video from I-frame 1608 to I-frame 1610 is followedby the repetition of I-frame 1606. As one skilled in the art wouldrecognize, there are numerous iterations of displaying segments of videoin combination with I-frames that would be well within the scope of thecurrent invention.

As previously mentioned, it is also possible that the processing rulesassociated (specifically those related to the advertisements) could alsoedit the advertisement by adding computer generated graphics, croppingthe advertisement, adjusting video features (i.e., color, opacity), andother editing features that would be obvious to one skilled in the art.Examples of alternative ads that could be created using editing featuresinclude, but are not limited to:

-   -   Cropping an I-frame or video segment (i.e., just using the        potion of an I-frame with the actors face, or the product);    -   Adding text (not in the original ad) to an I-frame or video        segment;    -   Adjusting the coloring of the advertisement so that an I-frame        could be used as a background (i.e., logo) with a video segment        running in front of it;    -   fading in and out between frames or segments; and    -   emphasizing certain features in a frame or video segment.

As one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize, the number of waysto modify an advertisement in order to create an alternative ad isalmost limitless. The current invention is in no way intended to belimited to the above examples but should be construed to include allplausible variations and iterations thereof.

The processing rules associated with audio are likely not as complex asthere are not as many ways for splicing audio together that would beaudible. The processing rules for audio may include playing a singleportion of the audio (i.e., first two seconds) or splicing severalportions of audio together (i.e., first second and last second).According to one embodiment, the appropriate segment of video isidentified in some manner, such as with metadata, and the identifiedsegment is played. According to another embodiment, a portion ofbackground music from the ad may be played while the words of the ad areextracted (not played). According to another embodiment of theinvention, audio associated with either more or less time that thelength of the alternative ad are selected and then slowed down or speedup accordingly. For example, it is possible that the first three secondsof audio (i.e., details about a sale) are speed up so they are playedback within two seconds. As one skilled in the art, would recognizemodifying the audio in such a fashion would effect the pitch of theaudio. Thus, according to one embodiment, after the audio was eitherspeed up or slowed down the pitch of the audio would be adjusted priorto playback. As one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize thereare other processing rules that could be used to select and/or editaudio for the alternative ads that would be well within the scope of thecurrent invention.

Once the alternative ad (whether generated or received as a separatefile) is selected for display during a trick-play event, the alternativead is displayed to the subscriber. As previously discussed, thealternative ad may be displayed in place of the ad or in conjunctionwith the ad. FIG. 17 illustrates various embodiments of how thealternative ad can be displayed to the subscriber. Each embodimentillustrates a STB PVR 1700 and a TV 1702, though one skilled in the artwould realize that the PVR 1700 could be a HE PVR, a DVD player or otherdevices that can play back recorded programs. The first embodiment (A),illustrates the original advertisement 1710 being displayed in trickplay mode (i.e., fast forward, skip, rewind). The second embodiment (B),illustrates the alternative advertisement 1720 being displayed in placeof the original advertisement. As previously discussed, the alternativeadvertisement may be a still image or a video, may have been generatedfrom the original advertisement or may have been received as a separatefile, and may include audio or not.

The remaining embodiments, illustrate the alternative ad being placed inconjunction with the original advertisement in trick play mode (i.e.,fast forward). These embodiments are preferable as the subscriber cansee the original ad and see that they are actually skipping portions ofthe ad and are not being forced to watch additional ads. The thirdembodiment (C), illustrates a split screen with the original ad 1712 onone half and the alternative ad 1722 on the other half. As illustrated,each ad is reduced in size from embodiments A and B so that the entiread (original and alternative) fits on the appropriate half of thescreen. The fourth embodiment (D), also illustrates a split screen withthe original ad 1714 on one half and the alternative ad 1724 on theother half. However, in this embodiment each ad is cropped from thatillustrated in embodiments A and B. It should be noted that the croppedalternative ad 1722 may in fact be a cropped version of an image orvideo segment from the original ad and not actually a cropped version ofthe alternative ad.

The fifth embodiment (E), illustrates the alternative ad 1726superimposed over the original ad 1710. The superimposition is shown asthe upper right corner, but it is not limited thereby. In fact accordingto one embodiment, the location, size and shape of the superimposed ad1726 are adjustable. The adjustments may be defined in the processingrules (i.e., by the advertiser) or may be made by the network operator.In either event, the adjustments may be based on who is watching the ad.In an alternative embodiment, the subscriber may make the adjustments(the subscriber may make the adjustments each time or may define hispreferences and have those preferences as the default orientation). Thesixth embodiment (F), illustrates the original ad 1716 superimposed overthe alternative ad 1720. As with the fifth embodiment (E), the size,shape and location of the superimposed ad are adjustable.

The seventh embodiment (G), illustrates the alternative ad 1728superimposed over the original ad 1710. The superimposition isillustrated as having different video features than the original ad1710. For example, the superimposed ad may have a degree of opaquenessso that portions of the original ad 1710 can be seen below. Other videofeatures can include modifying the color, contrast, brightness, hue,tint and saturation, but are not limited thereby. As illustrated, thesuperimposed ad 1728 has less distinct features and accordingly theoriginal ad 1710 has the more distinct features (i.e., color, brightnessreduced on superimposed ad 1728). However, this embodiment is notlimited thereto. In fact, the video features of the superimposed ad 1728could be adjusted to make the superimposed ad 1728 more distinct. Inanother embodiment, the video features of the original ad 1710 could beadjusted to either make the original ad 1710 more distinct (bright) ormore subtle (dull). In another embodiment, the video features of bothads could be adjusted. The adjustments may be defined in the processingrules (possibly dependent on who is watching the ad), by the networkoperator, or by the subscriber. The eighth embodiment (F), illustratesthe original ad 1718 superimposed over the alternative ad 1720. As withthe seventh embodiment (G), the video features of either ad may beadjusted.

As one skilled in the art would recognize there are numerousalternatives for displaying alternative ads or alternative ads inconjunction with the original ads that are not described above but thatwould be well within the scope of the current invention. For example,whichever ad is superimposed on the other could be surrounded by aborder to help distinguish between the two.

According to one embodiment of the present invention it is possible togenerate a single alternative advertisement for multiple advertisements.According to one embodiment, an advertiser may have two advertisementsslated to be played on after one another and may wish to present, forexample, a single 4-second alternative ad as opposed to two 2-secondalternative ads. As discussed above, the alternative ad may be receivedas a separate file or may be generated by applying the processing rulesto the advertisements. However, the ads need not be for the sameadvertiser in order to be combined. For example, two advertisers whohave complimentary products may wish to define a combined alternativeadvertisement (i.e., Coke and McDonalds may have a combined alternativead). As would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art,coordination between the advertiser(s) would be required.

In yet another alternative embodiment, it is possible that duringfast-forwarding of two advertisements (i.e., one for company A and onefor company B) a combined alternative ad (for company C not related tocompanies A and B) is displayed (i.e., a 4-second alternative ad forTylenol is displayed while advertisements for Burger King and Budweiserare fast forwarded). As would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in theart, in a preferred embodiment, the unrelated alternative ad would be aseparate file. However, it is possible that the unrelated alternative adcould be generated from the ads (though there may be some copyrightissues with that). The unrelated alternative advertisement may have beenlinked to the advertisements for some reason (i.e., an alternative Beerad during fast forwarding of a football and truck ad). The linking maybe done by the advertiser prior to transmitting the alternative ad(i.e., the unrelated ad is sent with a link to the ad) or may be donewithin the PVR (i.e., display this alternative ad if an certain ad orset of ads is fast forwarded through and does not already have analternative ad(s) defined therefore). Alternatively, the alternative admay simply been the next alternative advertisement to display during atrick play event of two ads.

It should be noted that the display of unrelated ads is discussed abovein relation to a combined alternative ad for two advertisements.However, these same methods could be applied to a single ad or more thantwo consecutive ads.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the PVR determines thelocation with the advertisement when the trick play event (i.e., fastforward) is initiated, and if applicable the speed of the trick playevent. If a determination is made that the ad has progressed to far, orthat the speed is too great, or some combination thereof, the PVR mayeither prevent the trick-play event or skip the alternative ad. Inanother embodiment, the alternative ad will be initiated and the trickplay event will be paused for the time it takes to complete thealternative advertisement.

As one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize, and as discussedabove, some PVRs have a skip advertisement function. According to oneembodiment of the invention, the playback of the recorded video afterthe skip command would be paused while an alternative ad was displayed.In another embodiment, if the trick play event is a pause, the PVR maydisplay an alternative ad after a predetermined amount of time expired.The reason for the delayed time is that the subscriber may have pausedon the ad for a reason, such as to obtain a phone number, or they mayhave left the room. An alternative ad displayed during a pause event islikely displayed in conjunction with the original ad. Moreover, it islikely that the subscriber would be able to delete or withdraw thealternative advertisement before any certain time has passed (i.e., ifthe subscriber had stopped to view a phone number on the original ad).As it is possible that a pause lasts for a while, it is possible thatthe alternative ad is displayed for a long time or that multiplealternative ads are displayed (if available). According to oneembodiment, the alternative ads may not be related to the paused ad.

During the playback of an advertisement, the subscriber may changechannels to live television for the approximate amount of time that thead would run (i.e., 30 seconds, or possibly 2 minutes for the entirecommercial break). According to one embodiment, an alternative ad willbe displayed in conjunction with the live programming. According toanother embodiment, the alternative ad will be displayed for the time ittakes the channel change to occur (as one skilled in the art knows thechanging of channels in digital cable, satellite and SDV systems maytake several seconds).

The invention has been described with specific emphasis on digitalvideo. However, the invention is not limited thereto and may be appliedto audio, streaming media and other advertisement media that would beknown to those skilled in the art. In fact, this application has definedsome alternative audio advertisements as they relate to the videocounterparts but could applied to simply audio. Moreover, thisapplication has concentrated on PVRs but the invention is not limitedthereto. In fact the invention to be applied to any prerecorded media.For example, if a subscriber attempted to fast forward through thepreviews on a movie rental they may be presented with an alternativepreview.

Although this invention has been illustrated by reference to specificembodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious changes and modifications may be made which clearly fall withinthe scope of the invention. The invention is intended to be protectedbroadly within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for displayingalternate advertising comprising: receiving a video for playback by apersonal video recorder (PVR), the video including programming content,at least one primary advertisement and at least one alternateadvertisement; detecting a trick play command by the PVR, during displayof the at least one primary advertisement; identifying by the PVR, whichtrick play command has been detected; modifying by the PVR, one or moreof a format and a play time, of the at least one alternate advertisementto correspond to the identified trick play command; and displaying bythe PVR, the at least one adjusted alternate advertisement correspondingto the identified trick play command during execution of the trick playcommand.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein themodifying by the PVR includes insertion and splicing.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein when the detected trickplay command is identified as a pause command, the modifying by the PVRincludes formatting the alternate advertisement as a still image.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein when the detected trickplay command is identified as a skip command, the modifying by the PVRincludes formatting the alternate advertisement as a still image.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determiningby the PVR, an execution time length for completion of the detectedtrick play command when the detected trick play command is identified asa fast forward command.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5,wherein the modifying by the PVR includes modifying the at least onealternate advertisement to have a play time length equal to thedetermined execution time length of the fast forward command.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determiningby the PVR, an execution time length for completion of the detectedtrick play command when the detected trick play command is identified asa rewind command.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, whereinthe modifying by the PVR includes modifying the at least one alternateadvertisement to have a play time length equal to the determinedexecution time length of the rewind command.
 9. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the at least one alternate advertisement isrelated to a content of the at least one primary advertisement.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least onealternate advertisement is not related to a content of the at least oneprimary advertisement.
 11. A system for delivering alternate advertisingto a user, the system comprising: a video playback component suitablefor displaying video to the user, the video including programmingcontent, at least one primary advertisement and at least one alternateadvertisement; and a processing component suitable for: detecting atrick play during display of the at least one primary advertisement;identifying which trick play command has been detected; modifying one ormore of a format and a play time of the at least one alternateadvertisement to correspond to the identified trick play command; anddisplaying the at least one adjusted alternate advertisementcorresponding to the identified trick play command during execution ofthe trick play command.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein themodifying includes insertion and splicing.
 13. The system of claim 11,wherein when the detected trick play command is identified as a pausecommand, the modifying includes formatting the alternate advertisementas a still image.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein when the detectedtrick play command is identified as a skip command, the modifyingincludes formatting the alternate advertisement as a still image. 15.The system of claim 11, further comprising: determining an executiontime length for completion of the detected trick play command when thedetected trick play command is identified as a fast forward command. 16.The system of claim 15, wherein the modifying includes modifying the atleast one alternate advertisement to have a play time length equal tothe determined execution time length of the fast forward command. 17.The system of claim 11, further comprising: determining an executiontime length for completion of the detected trick play command when thedetected trick play command is identified as a rewind command.
 18. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein the modifying includes modifying the atleast one alternate advertisement to have a play time length equal tothe determined execution time length of the rewind command.
 19. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the at least one alternate advertisement isrelated to a content of the at least one primary advertisement.
 20. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the at least one alternate advertisement isnot related to a content of the at least one primary advertisement.